An emergency was declared on an aircraft bound for Scotland today after a passenger fell ill while the jet in question was approaching the airport.
The British Airways jet from London City Airport was heading towards Glasgow Airport this afternoon when the emergency was declared due to the elderly passengers condition.
The aircraft was in the skies above Lanarkshire, near to Bellshill and Motherwell, when the pilots made contact with Glasgow Airport to ask for special treatment for the aircraft.
It had left London City Airport at 1.15pm, 15 minutes after the scheduled 1pm departure time, and landed at 2.11pm, nine minutes earlier than the 2.20pm scheduled landing.
A source said: “Flight BA8722 was approaching Glasgow at around 2pm when the pilot declared a ‘Squawk 770’. It was near to Lanarkshire at the time.”
A British Airways source added: “There was a medical emergency on board involving an elderly passenger. Our pilots requested a priority landing as a precaution and the aircraft landed normally.”
According to simpleflying.com: “A Squawk 7700 code indicates an emergency onboard the aircraft. It may be due to technical, environmental, or medical issues that result in an emergency situation.
“The Squawk 7700 can either be instructed by the ATC or can be inputted into the transponders by pilots. With the emergency code activated, all controllers (including ground controllers) are aware that the aircraft is dealing with an emergency situation.
“Ground controllers can alert emergency crew and keep the staff on standby before the arrival of the aircraft.” British Airways was approached for comment.
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